A very interesting commentary today, Eoin. Several of your comments resonated with me. Most important was Mrs Treacy’s observation about Chinese social media reaction to Japanese radiation, and the response from the CCP that the Chinese should stop the negativity - followed by the thought that the negativity will be rapidly removed from the social media records. OMG. I am currently re-reading George Orwell’s book 1984. That’s exactly what he predicted; history rewritten constantly to support Big Brother’s narrative of the day. We should all read 1984 again and contemplate if the West is heading in the same direction.

Eoin Treacy's view

Thank you for this kind email. 1984 was my younger daughter’s summer reading book for school. We’ve had many talks around the dinner table about authoritarianism and the nature of objective versus subjective reality. It is easy to turn the critical eye on China, however we need to also be aware the battle against limitations on personal freedoms is much closer to home too.

We are all prone to think in terms of narrative, spin, or lies depending on our personal perception of the political environment. The one thing we can be sure of is the internet facilitates the creation of a subjective reality and the propagation of “accepted” truth.

These are exactly the kinds of conflicts we should expect to arise as the intractable issue of unaffordable public services, unfunded pensions obligations and government spending that is out of kilter with tax revenue become more pressing. The continued rise in bond yields serve to raise the urgency of these long-festering issues. That’s why the central banks are in such a tight position. They have to get inflation under control now because the alternative is chaos.

The ISM Services Index came in much higher than expected today. That is going to provide additional support for the core services ex-housing measure which is remains well above the post global financial crisis norm. This question is likely to become much more pressing as we head into the last part of the year.


Personal savings are steadily being eroded and that will accelerate if student loan repayments begin as expected in October. The last effort at a delay was shot down by the Supreme Court so further delays are going to be difficult.